Putting together a big Christmas dinner may not be easy. But perhaps it's easier, at least compared to a hundred years ago.

Turkey and/or ham with all the trimmings. Done.

A hundred years ago?

Well, back on Christmas Day, 1919 Christmas dinner was....well, just about anything you could heap on the table!

It might be roast beef or pork roast. It could be whatever wild animal could be had leading up to the big day. There was absolutely nothing wrong with wild venison, thank you very much!

In fact, if you were 'well enough off' to head to town for a fancy restaurant Christmas dinner, you just might sink your teeth into a delicious Roast Opossum, stuffed, Southern Style! That was one of the menu items at the Griswold House Hotel in Detroit (Could I have seconds please?).

Soups were a staple of the meal, not just at Christmas, but probably just about any meal any day. Tomato soup, game soup, gumbo or just soup from whatever was leftover from dinner yesterday. Nothing wrong with a good hot soup as the main course on a cold Christmas Day.

And the favorite pie to cap off that delicious Christmas meal a hundred years ago? Pumpkin? Apple?

Well, while they were certainly 'around' back in the day, most people's favorite was mincemeat pie. That, and Christmas plum pudding were apparently two of the favorite things brought over from the 'Old Country' years before and still mighty popular come Christmas dinner time.

So basically, while here a hundred years later, it's heavy on the turkey and ham, a century ago it was...whatever might be in the house (or the neighbors' house...or the relatives' house).

But one thing hasn't changed...is there anything better than sitting around the Christmas dinner table with family and friends...and pass the gravy, please.

Dustyoldthing.com contributed tho this article 

 

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